High hooking?

i might be a little old , maybe a bit crusty, but in all my years i never heard anyone say "high hooking", i think i would take my hat off , scratch my head and say "HUH".
'

 

And if something isn't wrong you have to crawl back in the truck, lol, jk.

Not only noting the height of a trailer pay attention to the terrain which can be deceiving. Pot holes and dips in dirt lots in front of trailer where drivers been hooking, tugging, spinning tires....can change your height at the last second. The same if the trailer is sitting on a hill. Things can change when yard jockeys moves trailers to and from the docks.


High hooking? Is that when you crawl in the upper bunk?

 

Never have, never will high hook! I get out and look!

 

Next time you are hooked to a trailer.... Look in the mirror at where the front of the trailer is positioned in relation to the front drive tire (or "THE" drive tire if single screw) and never go beyond that point when hooking up.
This position will vary from truck to truck due to the position of the fifth wheel plate if it is a sliding fifth wheel...or a different manufacturer.

If you're in a day cab, get used to using your mirrors instead of the back window.
This will allow you to be able to see whats happening around you as you back up and you can keep an eye on your tandems and the nose of the trailer.

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this happens to all of us. I let the air out of my rear bags and pull out. If you still cant get out push fifth wheel towards the front if its still to high crank that trailer up more. Learn from it and move on once u have to crank that #### back down you wont wanna do it again lol

 

Once you back in so far and don't feel anything; stop!


If I don't feel it hit the apron I'll get out and lower the trailer just to ensure the bottom flange on the kingpin is going to be below the lock jaws.

I don't see how you would want to keep backing up after not feeling anything. Your not hooking up to a fluffy cloud.

 

That is why you get OUT and eye ball that #### trailer and lower/raise it until the nose is just on the lower half of your 5th wheel. You never go backing in blind or a hurry to grab trailer. That ##### will jump your 5th wheel and potentially screw you over really bad. I expect this from rookies one time if I don't catch em first. But not from truckers who have had time out there on the road. In the olden days the best trucks had angle frames in which you can physically lift the trailer to your 5th wheel and get it out of the mud etc. Today's road trucks, not so much.

 

Yep and it matters on the ground.Tyson here drops their empties on a dirt lot full of lot holes.The trailers are like a few inches higher then the fifth wheel.Which in that case for the new ppl you crank the trailer down so king pin is a smidge lower then the yoke of the fifth wheel.

 

Not that hard to tell if it's high.